MODELING AND ANALYSIS OF SUSTAINABLE VACCINE SUPPLY CHAIN ISSUES FOR INDIAN HEALTHCARE SYSTEM

Abstract

Good health for all humans has become an established international goal, and it is evident that life expectancy has increased significantly over the last century with improvements in medical science. Globalization improved health, especially in underdeveloped countries, as more medical innovations were shared across borders and people sought treatment in advanced and affordable facilities. In order to provide medical services across borders with a comparably shorter lead time and reduced cost, transportation and technology played a critical role, however, this also makes it possible for infectious diseases to spread quickly across continents. Infectious diseases like tuberculosis, rubella, tetanus, HIV, etc., have spread across continents and can be fatal. Every year, more than 1.5 million people die from tuberculosis, which is widespread throughout the world. Preventive vaccination is the most effective technique to avoid the spread of such diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO), with the help of governments and other healthcare agencies, runs several immunization programs to prevent preexisting infectious diseases by vaccinating pregnant ladies and newborn babies. However, Low- and Middle-income countries (LMICs), including India, are still struggling to vaccinate all their children and pregnant ladies with essential vaccines to prevent common infectious diseases. The inefficiencies in the vaccine distribution network, which is primarily a cold chain network, are a major cause of the low immunization rate in LMICs. Due to limited cold chain infrastructure, the vaccine supply chain (VSC) is highly strained in LMICs, and the inclusion of new vaccines significantly reduces VSC efficiency. The recent spread of COVID-19 has exacerbated the situation. Therefore, it has become increasingly important to streamline the existing VSC network to distribute more vaccines without adding significant infrastructure by creating a resource surplus. Along with this, the continuous monitoring of the vaccine cold chain and consideration of social and environmental factors are also critical for sustainable VSC.